Science of Merino: Evidence-based vision required as sheep shipping ban looms

WA’s Merino industry dynamics will be tested in the lead up to the Albanese Government’s ban on the live sheep export trade by sea in 2028. The State’s sheep and wool producers and the broader industry will face unprecedented challenges complicated by the swings in global economies and the pressures on world governments to combat climate change. At last year’s Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics Conference at the University of WA, Danish Agriculture and Food Council senior scientist Mark Heryon said the future of animal production was challenged and “an evidence-based vision from industry would be required”. Mr Henryon said animal breeding aimed to improve desirable traits by ranking animals — selecting the best and avoiding in-breeding. “That’s not going to change, what may change is our direction of selection,” he said. “Selecting the composition of traits to ease community concerns. “Animal production has a future, but it will probably have to change a bit.” He said there needed to be clear signals from the government and community to make those changes. “We have the skills to make those changes, we just have to do it safely,” Mr Henryon said. “Animals provide high-quality protein — people have to eat, they are efficient biomass converters, and they utilise land that is unsuitable for other parts of the food production, plus they are deeply embedded in cultures and societies around the world. “The problem was that all those benefits came with costs.” Mr Henryon said animal production uses the land, water and energy — it degrades the eco systems, encourages deforestation and emits greenhouse gases and it rears animals in captivity — issues the industry has to deal with. “Animal production will be expected to change to cope with the costs associated with it,” he said. “Change is essential to ease community concerns and for farmers to keep a licence to produce. “Governments around the world were reacting to these concerns, by introducing legislation, consensus and penalties to balance the benefits of animal production with those costs that were associated with it.” He doesn’t think there will be radical changes. “Sheep are not too bad on environmental impact and climate, but they have some animal welfare issues,” Mr Henryon said. He said animals were part of the solution with better genetics to perform and maximise profit in future production systems.